PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, 1st March 2006
CHESS DUEL MAN VS. MACHINE:
WORLD CHAMPION KRAMNIK VS. DEEP FRITZ
Six Game Match from 25.11. to 05.12.06 in Germany’s
Art and Exhibition Hall
One Million US Dollars for a win against the world's strongest chess program
Peer Steinbrück Patron of the event
Classical Chess World Champion Vladimir Kramnik
The classical World Chess Champion against the world's strongest computer program:
In the WORLD CHESS CHALLENGE (WCC) 2006 classical chess World Champion Vladimir
Kramnik (Russia) will play a match against the world's leading chess computer
program, Deep Fritz (Germany). The duel will take place from November 25th to
December 5th, 2006, in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic
of Germany in Bonn. It is part of an event series entitled "The Culture
of Play". Patron of the WCC 2006 is Peer Steinbrück, the German Minister
of Finance.
Germany's Minister of Finance Peer Steinbrück playing an
exhibition game
against Vladimir Kramnik in 2005
The duel between the 30-year old World Champion from Russia and the computer
program, produced by the software company ChessBase in Hamburg, is set for six
games. Vladimir Kramnik has the chance to win one million US-Dollar. Specifically:
the World Champion can double his starting fee of 500,000 US-Dollar –
if he defeats Deep Fritz and decides the six-round duel in his favor.
Asked how he estimates his chances, Kramnik reacted cautiously: "Fritz
examines millions of moves per second. It is extraordinarily difficult to play
against such a calculating monster. Right from the start you are walking on
a very narrow ridge, and you know that any inattentiveness will be your downfall.
It is a scientific experiment and I will have to fight very hard for my chance."
The WCC is being organized by Universal Event Promotion (UEP), in
cooperation with the Art and Exhibition Hall. "We are very pleased
to promote this top class match, which is taking place at such a marvelous venue.
In the year of computer science the match 'Man vs. Machine' is a very special
highlight", emphasizes UEP investor and match director Josef Resch.
Kramnik vs Deep Fritz in Bahrain 2002
The great chess duels between human and artificial intelligence, played at
the highest level, have always fascinated the public. In 1997 former World Champion
Garry Kasparov (Russia) lost
in New York against Deep Blue. Kramnik, who defeated Kasparov in their world
championship match in 2000, achieved
a draw against Deep Fritz in Bahrain in 2002, just as Kasparov did a year
later against
Deep Junior in New York.
Kramnik playing a simul in the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn, Germany
After years of technical advancement the fascinating encounters between man
and machine now enter a new phase: Is man with his strategic abilities able
to put up resistance against the brute calculating power of the machine?
Schedule
| Game 1: |
Saturday |
25.11.2006 |
15:00 h |
| Game 2: |
Monday |
27.11.2006 |
15:00 h |
| Game 3: |
Wednesday |
29.11.2006 |
15:00 h |
| Game 4: |
Friday |
01.12.2006 |
15:00 h |
| Game 5: |
Sunday |
03.12.2006 |
15:00 h |
| Game 6: |
Tuesday |
05.12.2006 |
15:00 h |
Note: During the entire period of the match the Arts and Exhibition Hall
will offer a varied top class program. Information: www.bundeskunsthalle.de.
Press contact Art and Exhibition Hall: Maja Majer-Wallat. majer-wallat@kah-bonn.de.
Organiser and partners
UNIVERSAL EVENT PROMOTION GmbH
Universal Event Promotion GmbH is the organizer of the WORLD
CHESS CHALLENGE 2006. The company was founded 2005 in Dortmund and specializes
in organizing and carrying out national and international events.
ART AND EXHIBITION HALL OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Since 1992 more than 12 million visitors have found their way to the renowned
Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany. Visual
arts, cultural history, science and technology are central themes – and,
of course, chess. The Art and Exhibition Hall is the first cultural
institution to intensively embrace chess. Two years ago the starting shot was
fired, when 500 spectators watched World Champion Kramnik play a simultaneous
exhibition against 20 opponents in the Forum of the Art and Exhibition Hall:
www.bundeskunsthalle.de.
CHESSBASE GmbH
For 18 years now ChessBase has developed and distributed chess databases, chess
playing programs and chess training courses for PCs. The ChessBase GmbH
has its office in Hamburg, with 20 permanent employees and a large number of
freelance contributors, among them some of the world’s top grandmasters.
Almost all chess professionals use ChessBase programs, which are translated
in up to 12 languages. They are the favorites of chess amateurs and casual players
as well. The best-known chess programs are FRITZ and the children’s chess
tutorial FRITZ & CHESSTER. ChessBase also runs the world's biggest Internet
chess server, "schach.de" / "playchess.com", with 200,000
registered members and 120 million games played so far. The news services www.chessbase.com
and www.chessbase.de are the leading chess news sites in the world. ChessBase GmbH, Mexikoring 35, D-22297 Hamburg, Tel.: +49-40-639060-0; Fax: +49-(0)-40-6301282, E-Mail: info@chessbase.com
Press contact:
Rolf Behovits, Press officer World Chess Challenge 2006, E-Mail: pr-behovits@uumail.de
Universal Event Promotion GmbH, Eicktelgenweg 18, D-44309 Dortmund/Germany
T: +49-231-20 14 44, F: +49-231-25 16 87, UEPinfo@aol.com